


Good Boys Do Fine Always

by sep



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-29
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2017-12-27 23:17:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/984815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sep/pseuds/sep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>First impressions can be deceiving.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

            Dave unceremoniously threw another pair of boxers into his suitcase. Sunscreen, swimsuit, shades... all in order.

            "That should be it," he muttered to himself.

            "You ready?" Dave jumped at the voice, then sighed when he heard Bro chuckling. How could the only other person in the house manage to sneak up on him every time?

            "Yeah, I guess."

            As a "reward" for bringing his grades up enough to pass without summer school, Bro was sending him off to church camp for a month. Really, though, it was just an excuse to get Dave out of the house. He knew Bro felt bad making his weird puppet videos with a kid in the next room, and it's not like Dave went out much. The church part was just another stint of irony, probably. As if Bro had ever gone to church in his life.

            It wasn't that Dave didn't like the outdoors, but a month surrounded by cheerful, singing Bible thumpers with no concept of privacy did not sound like his idea of a good time.

            "It'll be a good experience for ya. Be good for your character or some parenting shit like that," Bro had said in response to his complaining. "Maybe you'll have one 'a those religious epiphanies, or whatever."

            They arrived at the bus stop just as the bus was pulling up. _Great_ , Dave thought. _You’re the first one here. Way to seem over-eager. But these drips probably lap that shit up._

            He waited until a few other people had arrived and gotten on before getting out of the car. That was a mistake, because as soon as he reached the bus Bro shouted, "Bye, sweetie! I love you! Try not to get an infection again!" which drew several giggles from campers already seated.

            He sat in the very back, put his headphones in, and ignored the world around him. It wasn't until the bus pulled onto a bumpy road just off the highway that he noticed someone was sitting next to him.

            This someone had to be the biggest dork he'd ever seen. He was wearing some kind of scout uniform, with the shirt tucked in and the pants pulled up to his belly button. He had ruffled black hair and buck teeth and a grin that was way too happy for Dave's comfort.

            Unfortunately, he caught Dave looking at him, and took one arm away from hugging his bag to wave. Dave raised his eyebrows. The boy was saying something to him but he couldn't hear, and pointed to his headphones to indicate he didn't have enough interest in what he had to say to take them off. He giggled and motioned for Dave to remove them, but Dave shrugged and made a face as if he still couldn't understand. Then the boy leaned over and gently pried the headphones away. Dave sighed. It was going to be a long week.

            "I'm John!" the boy said. "What's your name?"

            "Leave it," Dave said, moving to put his headphones back on. John put one hand on them to stop him.

            "That's quite the name. Were your parents hippies or something?" He started laughing at his own joke, but Dave didn't change his expression.

            "You think you're funny, don't you?"

            "Come on, I'm just trying to be friendly! Now, what's your name?"

            Dave sighed and told him.

            "That's my uncle's name! We've got a lot in common already. What kind of church do you go to?" Dave had given up trying to put his headphones back on by now.

            "Don't go to church."

            "I don't much either, since it's just been me and my dad." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Hey, don't tell anybody, but I'm starting to doubt all this Jesus stuff anyway."

            Dave tried to think of something witty to say, but just then the doors of the bus opened and people started getting off. He hadn't noticed it stop.

            "We're here!" John exclaimed. God, this kid gets more annoying by the second.

            They got in line to be assigned their cabins; all the while John talked at him animatedly, and Dave did his best to ignore it.

            When Dave got out of line, he found John waiting for him, blue eyes shining.  
            "Hey, what cabin'd you get?" Dave flashed him the slip of paper he'd received. "Hey, same as me! We'll be bunk buddies!" Dave subtly cringed.

            John insisted they share a bunk, and John insisted on being on top ("Trying to compensate for something?" "What?" "Nothing.") so Dave unpacked and decided to chill there instead of heading down to the mess hall to play stupid name games.

            "Aren't you coming?" John asked, obviously eager to get started.

            "You go on ahead. I'll catch up with you around dinner time."

            "Well..." John looked uncomfortable, like he really had to pee or something.

            "What? Spit it out."

            "We have to use the buddy system, so you have to come with me."

            Dave pondered this. "Actually, you have to stay here."

            "No! We have to go! We have to get our schedules and everything!"

            "Fine. We go, we get our schedules, you find another snot-nosed best friend, and I head back here."

            "Who'll be your buddy?" John looked so concerned Dave wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or throw up.

            "I'll be fine."

            They waded through the crowd at the mess hall. Dave observed that most of the other boys looked pretty excited, but none as dweeby as the one he kept trying to shake. He got his schedule and headed back without waiting for John.

            Of course, John caught up with him in seconds.

            "I couldn't just leave you on your own! Let's compare schedules!"

            To Dave's horror, John shared almost every activity with him. "Looks like we'll really get to know each other this month!" Dave choked back a groan. These were going to be the longest four weeks of his life.

 

            "Hit the ball, Strider! Hit the freaking ball!"

            Dave remained stationary, watching the ball roll off the sand onto the unkempt grass. Oh fuck no.

            The boy who'd shouted at him, named something-Vantas as he recalled, walked over. He was tall and sturdy with an aggressive, blunt gait. His hair was a dark cherry brown and his skin a tanned olive. He stood right in front of Dave, then leaned down slowly to pick up the ball without breaking eye contact. "You realize what we're doing, right, Strider? We're playing volleyball. And in this game of volleyball you have to at least try to hit the ball."

            "Yeah, sorry, but I'm really not a sports kind of guy. I think my albino-esque skin is Jesus's indicator that I'm not really meant for the outdoor scene. And I think it goes without saying that Jesus is one motherfucker you don't cross."

            The boy called Vantas leaned into his face, clearly trying to be intimidating. "You don't. Curse. At church camp. You just don't. Are we clear, Strider?"

            Dave leaned in close and said quietly, "Fuck my tight ass, Vantas."

            Vantas became very stiff and closed his eyes, muttering "Whatwouldjesusdowhatwouldjesusdo" under his breath. He opened his eyes, forced a smile at Dave that looked more like a grimace, and marched back to his spot on the court to resume the game.

            Dave smirked, catching John's eye with an expression of boyish triumph. John rolled his eyes and grinned before returning attention to the game.

 

            Soon afterwards, the old brass bell near the mess hall rang for free time. John sidled up to Dave. "What are we going to do now?" he asked. "I was thinking we could break in the new kayaks they got this year, and swim in the lake when we get too hot."

            "How cliché do we want to be this summer?" Dave said, disregarding John's suggestion—and his assumption that they would be sticking together.

            "Excuse me?"

            "I want to pull a prank. On that kid Vantas. He needs some good old-fashioned humility knocked into him, and I think a nice classic underwear-on-the-flagpole kind of deal would be just the thing."

            John's eyes got very wide with an unknown emotion, then narrowed in determination. "You leave this to me," he said, nodding his head resolutely.

            They escaped the prepubescent squeals of joy around them and retired to a small beach, hidden by a vegetated bank jutting out and acting as a barrier from the main part of the lake. Immediately John set to work. Dave showed interest at first, but soon found it impossible to keep up with the boy's thoughts and the nonsensical diagrams he drew in the sand. He lay on his stomach instead, watching bugs crawl in front of him and changing their direction with his finger.

            "Okay," John said finally, after looking over the blueprints he had drawn one last time. "So we sneak away during prayer circle and put his bed on the roof, Parent Trap-style. Then we take all his stuff and we float it onto the lake in a canoe sporting the underwear flag you suggested."

            "Hey, that's pretty good. But how do we get the bed on the roof?"

            "We take it apart and put it back together. I already stole some tools from the crafts pavilion. You know, just in case."

            "You're way more devious than you come off. I'm impressed."

            "That's the best part of pranking! People always think I'm some goody-two-shoes, so they never see it coming!" He laughed with exhilaration.

            Dave clapped John on the back and tried to suppress his grin. Maybe this kid's not so bad after all.

            They spent the rest of the afternoon skipping stones and skipping their scheduled activities, perfectly at ease, until dinner.

            Dave decided that he could tolerate days like this for a little while.


	2. Chapter 2

            "Okay, as your newly instated Camp Helper, I have some announcements,” came the voice of the Vantas kid that night at the prayer circle. “First of all, it has come to my attention that not everyone attended their scheduled activities today. You have to go to those. It’s required. If you have trouble finding anything…”

            Dave tuned out when he heard John coughing, his signal to sneak away from the group of kids back to the cabin. He waited until Vantas and the camp counselors weren’t looking, and then turned around and crawled as silently as he could until he was out of the firelight’s reach. He did as was planned and continued down the trail without waiting for John.

            When he arrived at the cabin he was surprised to find John already there, taking apart the bed.

            “Hey!” John whispered without looking up. “I’ll deal with the bed. You take all the stuff—but not the sheets—and get the canoe ready.”

            Dave took everything around the bed, piled it on top of Vantas’s suitcase, and hauled ass to the lake. Once there he opened up the luggage and rifled through for a suitable pair of undies to display for everyone.

            “Oh my fucking god,” Dave muttered under his breath when his fingers brushed something very silky. It was lingerie; specifically, lacy, red, girly panties. _We’ve struck fucking gold,_ Dave thought as he used clothespins to fasten the intimates to a stick. He balanced the stick between two seats of the canoe so that the unmentionables delicately dangled over the water.

            “Holy cow,” whispered a voice behind him. Dave jumped and whipped his head around, but it was only John, admiring the beauty of the display Dave had put together. They finished loading Vantas’s possessions onto the canoe and launched it into the lake with their hands over their hearts.

            Suddenly they heard footsteps. They ran and hid behind the boathouse, crouching on the ground.

            Dave peeked out and saw two scrawny boys in pajamas.

            “I don’t see anyone. Let’s go back,” one boy said, yawning.

            “Hey, there’s a canoe out. Is that—are those panties? Vantas is not going to be happy.”

            “Hey, here’s a thought: let’s not tell him so we can actually sleep tonight. He’ll see it tomorrow at the flag ceremony anyway.” The boys laughed and walked away.

            When he could no longer hear them, Dave turned towards John. As soon as he did something warm and soft pressed against his lips. John was kissing him. John was fucking kissing him and before he knew how to respond John had pulled away and was looking at him and biting his lower lip, clearly distressed.

            “I—I’m sorry!” John squeaked after Dave didn’t say anything. “I didn’t think, I just—”

            Before either of them really knew what was going on Dave had slapped him. Hard. John cried out and held his cheek with both hands, and the horror in the eyes that met his made Dave immediately regret what he’d done.

            “Bro, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—hey, dude!” Fat tears began to roll down John’s cheeks and hiccupping sobs racked his body. “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t’ve slapped you, it’s alright!”

            Dave didn’t know what to do. He ended up awkwardly rubbing John’s back and repeatedly telling him it was alright for a few minutes until he calmed down.

            “So,” John said finally, “I guess I won’t do that again.” He chuckled weakly. They sat in silence for a few moments. Guilt clawed at Dave’s stomach. He didn’t know what to do. He just wanted this moment to be over.

            “Uh, do you want to go back?”

            They headed back to the cabin and crawled into bed in silence.

 

            Dave tried to sleep, but his mind wandered to the kiss. He didn't think he was gay, but it hadn't been… _bad._ It had just surprised him. _Maybe if it happens again…_ but he didn't let himself finish the thought. The blonde drifted into an uneasy sleep, John tossing and turning above him.

 

            The next morning the boys woke up and headed to the flag ceremony in front of the lake with the other campers. Vantas was the one to call out the color guard commands and stood straight and tall near the flagpole with a clipboard, eyeing the campers with an air of condescension as they arrived.

            When the ceremony started there was more chatter than usual, and Vantas shot pointed glares at many offenders. Finally he glanced behind him, and did a double take. The canoe bumped against a rock near the shore, the panties in plain view. His face became very red and his mouth a thin line, his eye twitching as he continued. As soon as the pledge had been said he dismissed the campers without his usual announcements, walking quickly and stiffly towards the counselor cabin. As soon as the screen door slammed behind him, the two boys burst into laughter, last night’s awkwardness forgotten, and headed for the mess hall.

 

            That night the boys walked back to their cabin from the evening campfire. Dave walked at a pace that kept them slightly behind the other campers. When there was nobody else in earshot, he put a hand on John’s arm.

            “What is it?” John asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

            Dave had already decided what he was going to do. He had been planning this out in his head all day, whenever he had the time, but he was still unsure. The arm that had reached out, the legs that had slowed down; these motions were done with a robotic numbness. Now, though, it was like feeling had been shot back into him. Adrenaline beginning to rush through his veins, Dave took a step towards John.

            “Come with me,” he breathed, grabbing John’s hand and leading him towards the sandy spot by the lake where they’d spent so much time.

            When they arrived, Dave sat down facing the water, and John did the same.

            “What are we—”

            Before John could finish, Dave leaned in awkwardly until their lips met. _This is so uncool,_ he thought, but tried his best anyway, pressing his tongue against John’s lips. John sucked in air sharply through his nose, tensing up before relaxing, realizing what Dave wanted and letting him in. His tongue brushed John’s and John pushed his way into Dave’s mouth. This was… nice. John put his hands on Dave’s shoulders, then moved them up to cup his face. Dave grabbed John’s hips like he did with girls, and John seemed to like it, running his fingers through his hair and tugging fistfuls of it.

            Dave climbed onto John’s lap and wrapped his arms around John’s shoulders. John’s hands lingered at the bottom of his shirt hesitantly before pushing up to feel his bare back. Dave reached and grabbed the back of his own shirt with both hands, pulling it up over his head. John seemed unsure of what to do and placed his hands on the blonde’s shoulders. Dave guided his hands to his chest, where John ran his thumbs over Dave’s nipples.

            Dave moved away from John’s lips and placed kisses along his jaw line, and began biting at his neck. John’s breath hitched and he sighed jaggedly before pushing Dave away.

            “Hey,” John whispered, “we’re going a little fast.”

            “Sorry,” Dave muttered.

            Dave wrapped his arms around John and pressed his nose to the dark haired boy’s neck. They sat embracing in silence for a few moments before getting up to put their shirts back on.

            Dave glanced at John while his back was turned. The way his shoulder blades moved was really… hot. He loved the way his fingers rippled through his jet-black hair to smooth it down. And his eyes were…oh. John had caught him staring. He looked away and they both blushed.

            “That was...that was my first kiss,” John breathed. Dave nodded once.

            “Was my first with a guy.”

            “Oh, so you’ve, uh…” John trailed off and looked at Dave expectantly.

            “Yeah. I’ve… I’m not… I’ve had sex,” he said.

            “How was it?” John said. His eyes widened and he said quickly, “I mean, sorry! Don’t answer that!”

            Dave resisted the smirk pressing against his lips. “We should go back,” he said, standing up and stretching.

            They quietly headed back to the cabin.

            When they returned, the lights were on and Vantas, along with several counselors, were there waiting.


End file.
